OTTAWA — When Mark Carney visited Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s office to tell him in private the news that would soon rock the country’s political and business circles — that he was leaving his post as Bank of Canada governor — Flaherty didn’t try to stop him, the minister says.

“He had made up his mind. He’s entitled to make his own career choices,” Flaherty said in an interview with CTV’s Question Period that aired Sunday.

Carney’s announcement in late November that he will leave his job next June — 18 months early — to head England’s central bank left the government in a tight spot. The government did not have much advance notice of Carney’s plan and now — amid continuing concern about the potential economic fallout from instability in Europe and the United States — a new central banker must be chosen by next summer.

Carney revealed last month that the courtship for the job — he said he did not formally apply — had been “on and off” for some time, and that the discussions “really only intensified in the last two weeks.”

On Sunday, opening up a little more on the topic, Flaherty said the two men have known each other for a long time.

“We went to international meetings together, we travelled together, we know each other. I know his family, of course and I know his wife is British, and I know there are some ties there,” Flaherty said.

“We had some discussions and when he decided to do it he came and saw me here in my office. We had a private conversation about it.”

In picking a new governor, Flaherty said continuity, while important, is not the only factor to consider in the process.

“Continuity matters, but what really matters is to have a person who will maintain a solid monetary policy and control inflation. Inflation is very dangerous,” Flaherty said.

“Americans are printing a lot of money and so are others around the world, so we have to watch that we never go back to the 70s and 80s where inflation got out of control in Canada, which really, really hurts middle class people.”

The bank’s current goal is to keep inflation near two per cent.

As he sat next to Carney at a news conference last month, Flaherty appeared weary and searched for words as he characterized the loss of his central banker as “bittersweet, positive news for Canadians.”

When asked Sunday if all the travel that goes along with his job has worn on him, Flaherty said no.

“I’ll tell you what’s wearing is that we’re still not out of the economic woods. And it’s been a long haul since 2007,” Flaherty said.

“But I’m looking forward to finishing the job from my point of view – getting back to a balanced budget – and then I’ll have a degree of completion, a degree of satisfaction.”